A Graphical User Interface (GUI) of a data processing system typically provides various visual feedbacks on a display to communicate to the user. For example, when a user drags a selected item with a cursor on a screen (e.g., pressing and holding down a mouse button when the cursor is over the selected item and moving the mouse), the GUI shows a feedback illustrating that the selected item is being dragged by the cursor on the screen. On some systems, an outline of the selected item moves with a cursor as an indication that the selected item is being dragged to a location by the cursor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,577 describes methods to generate an outline image that represents the dragged item moving on the screen as the user drags the selected item.
Some systems provide feedbacks when a GUI component is switched from one mode to another. For example, when a GUI component is switched from a mode without keyboard focus to a mode with keyboard focus, visual-based emphasis is added. When a GUI component has keyboard focus, the GUI component is a target for keyboard inputs. In Mac OS 9 developed by Apple Computer, Inc., text edit fields and lists can get keyboard focus. A simple opaque, rectangular frame surrounding such a GUI component is used to indicate that the GUI component is in a mode with keyboard focus. In other systems, keyboard focus is indicated by a dotted rectangle around the text label of the item. An example of keyboard focus includes the rectangular frame around an “OK” button on the display. This normally tells the user that the “OK” button can be activated by pressing the “Return” or “Enter” buttons on a keyboard (in addition to being able to activate the “OK” button by selecting it with a mouse controlled cursor).